[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 69 (Monday, May 17, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H3049-H3051]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 OSCAR SCOTT WOODY POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3740) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 223 South Main Street in Roxboro, North Carolina, as 
the ``Oscar Scott Woody Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3740

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. OSCAR SCOTT WOODY POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 223

[[Page H3050]]

     South Main Street in Roxboro, North Carolina, shall be known 
     and designated as the ``Oscar Scott Woody Post Office 
     Building''.
       (b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, 
     document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
     facility referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be 
     a reference to the Oscar Scott Woody Post Office Building.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy).


                             General Leave

  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H.R. 3740.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Committee on Government Reform, the 
House committee that has oversight responsibilities to the U.S. Postal 
Service, I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 3740. This post office 
designation act honors Oscar Scott Woody, one of the postal service's 
little known heroes.
  This legislation has been co-sponsored by the entire North Carolina 
congressional delegation.
  Mr. Speaker, Oscar Scott Woody was among the 1,522 victims of the 
Titanic sinking in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. Woody was 
a clerk of the U.S. Post Office Department, who lived in Clifton 
Springs, Virginia. He worked 15 years as a railroad mail clerk before 
joining the Postal Sea Service in 1910. Two years later, Woody was 
selected as one of five postal clerks to serve aboard the grand Titanic 
during its heavily anticipated maiden voyage.
  While his invitation aboard the Titanic's ill-fated journey was 
professional in nature, he found time to celebrate his 44th birthday 
with his postal clerk colleagues on the night of April 14, 1912. That 
night, when the ship infamously crashed into an iceberg in the North 
Atlantic Ocean, Woody fled his party to salvage as much of the ship's 
mail as he could. Survivors of the Titanic's sinking reportedly last 
saw him desperately bagging up the mail in the ship's flooding post 
office.
  Mr. Speaker, Oscar Scott Woody was born April 15, 1868 in Roxboro, 
North Carolina. I support this measure that names a post office after 
him in his hometown.

                              {time}  1615

  I want to recognize my esteemed colleague from North Carolina (Mr. 
Miller) for his work on H.R. 3740.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
might consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House Committee on Government Reform, 
I am pleased to join my colleague in consideration of H.R. 3740, 
legislation naming a postal facility in Roxboro, North Carolina, after 
Oscar Scott Woody. This measure, which was introduced by the gentleman 
from North Carolina (Mr. Miller) on January 28, 2004, and unanimously 
reported by our committee on May 6, 2004, enjoys the support and 
cosponsorship of the North Carolina delegation.
  Oscar Scott Woody was born on April 18, 1868, and lived in Fairfax 
County, Virginia. For 15 years, Mr. Woody worked as a railroad mail 
postal clerk, working the train route between Washington, D.C., and 
Greensboro, North Carolina.
  In 1910, he was selected to serve with the Postal Sea Service. Two 
years later, Oscar was on the Titanic, serving with four other postal 
clerks.
  According to news reports, Oscar Scott Woody was celebrating his 44th 
birthday aboard the great ship, the Titanic, when it began to sink. 
Survivors reported seeing Oscar and the other postal sea clerks trying 
to save the mail in the ship's post office.
  Mr. Woody's body was later recovered, along with keys to the ship's 
mailboxes and ``facing slips'' which indicated the destination of the 
mail sack.
  Mr. Speaker, once again we are witness to the hard work and 
dedication of postal employees, even in the face of death and disaster.
  I commend my colleague for honoring postal sea clerk Oscar Scott 
Woody, and although the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller) was 
unable to be here today, I know that he would be proud to see the 
passage of this bill, which names a postal facility after Mr. Woody.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that I have any other requests for time 
and urge its passage.
  Mr. MILLER of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in 
support of this legislation to designate the Roxboro, NC Postal Service 
facility as the Oscar Scott Woody Post Office.
  Oscar Scott Woody, a native of Roxboro, North Carolina, was a sea 
post clerk aboard the Titanic. Woody worked 15 years as a railroad mail 
clerk, spending most of the time on trains running between Washington 
and Greensboro, North Carolina. He was selected in 1910 to join the sea 
post service.
  The Titanic was not only the largest and most luxurious ocean liner 
of her time, she was also a Royal Mail Steamer. With five sea post 
clerks, the Titanic set sail for New York with over six million pieces 
of mail on board. The clerks worked throughout the voyage, sorting mail 
in the ship's state-of-the-art mailroom.
  Sea post clerks were highly skilled and respected postal workers who 
sorted, canceled, and re-distributed the mail in transit. Regarded as 
the best of the best, these men typically sorted over 60,000 letters a 
day, making few, if any, errors in the process. Their hard work and 
efficiency allowed the mail to be delivered immediately or forwarded 
directly to other destinations at the end of a voyage.
  Mail was considered precious cargo and sea post clerks were expected 
to protect it at any cost.
  On the evening of April 14, 1912, the sea post clerks took a break to 
celebrate Mr. Woody's forty-fourth birthday. During their celebration, 
the Titanic hit an iceberg. They returned to find the mail storage 
room, located in the forward hold that the iceberg had breeched, 
flooding with water. The clerks desperately tried to save 200 sacks of 
registered mail by dragging them to the upper decks. Oscar Scott Woody 
was last seen alive at work, sloshing through the waist high freezing 
water to save the mail.
  None of the mail clerks survived. Oscar Scott Woody's body was 
recovered a week later and buried at sea.
  An exhibit at the Person County Museum of History in North Carolina 
notes Oscar Scott Woody's place in history. Governor Mike Easley 
proclaimed November 24, 2003 as ``Oscar Scott Woody Day'' in North 
Carolina.
  Recognition of Woody's heroic efforts is long overdue. It is 
certainly fitting to name a North Carolina Post Office after a North 
Carolinian who gave his life upholding his duties to the U.S. Postal 
Service. Not only does this legislation recognize a postal hero, it 
serves as a recognition of the contributions made by postal workers and 
sea post clerks throughout our nation's history.
  Mr. Woody certainly displayed the qualities with which North 
Carolinians take pride. This account was published by the Roxboro 
Courier on April 24, 1912:
  ``Mr. Woody stuck by his post and went down with hundreds of brave 
men, who scorned to take the places by the law of the sea and of Tar 
Heel chivalry [that] went to women first . . . More than one North 
Carolinian today, when it was learned that the dead mail-clerk hailed 
from down home, expressed their satisfaction that North Carolina 
courage had not been found wanting in that fearful test.''
  On May 1, 1912, an article about Mr. Woody in the same paper was 
published under the headline, ``Died like a North Carolinian.''
  Loyal to the last, Mr. Woody was a true Tar Heel. He stuck by his 
post like his heels were covered in tar and did his job on that 
frightful night, choosing duty over his life. On his birthday, he never 
wavered from his duty, and for that all Tar Heels take pride.
  I hope all my colleagues will join me in honoring a man who truly 
gave his life for his work by naming the Roxboro postal facility the 
Oscar Scott Woody Post Office.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 3740, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Boozman). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3740.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.

[[Page H3051]]

  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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